Following Gastric Bypass, Nature of β-Cell Sensitivity May Change

HealthDay News — Individuals with prior Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (GB) have blunted β-cell sensitivity to changes in glycemia, according to a study published online November. 20 in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.

Marzieh Salehi, MD, from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, and colleagues examined β-cell glucose sensitivity in the absence of meal stimulation and insulinotropic gut factors in 12 subjects without diabetes with prior GB surgery and 7 matched non-surgical controls with normal glucose tolerance. During a graded glucose infusion, blood glucose and insulin secretion rates were measured. Insulin sensitivity (SI) and glucose effectiveness (SG) were determined.

"In the absence of enteric stimuli β-cell sensitivity to changes in glycemia is blunted among individuals with GB, indicating a significant shift in a fundamental property of β-cell function several years after surgery," the authors write.